THEORIES OF TRUTH
(PHIL. 633a/433a)
    Reading Assignments

    (Readings from the Lynch anthology, The Nature of Truth, are listed by author, title, and either chapter number or "pp." followed by page numbers. Readings from the Kirkham book, Theories of Truth, are listed by author and chapter number (sometimes with page specifications). On-line readings are listed by author and title and labled "on-line".)

  • For Sep. 7: Read Lynch, "Introduction: The Mystery of Truth" (pp. 1-6) and Kirkham, Chapters 1 and 2 (pp. 54-72). There is no Reaction Essay due this week. Anyone needing a review of the notation of symbolic logic should also read Alex Miller's "Frege: Semantic Value and Reference" (on-line: available under 'Resources' on the course's Classes*v2 site).
  • For Sep. 14: Read Lynch, "Realism and the Correspondence Theory: Introduction" (pp. 9-15). Then read Russell, "Truth and Falsehood" (1), Kirkham, Chapter 4 (pp. 119-124), and Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Sections 1-3.01, photocopy/on-line). Reaction Essays (on Russell) are due in my mailbox in the Dept. office on Monday 9/12 by 3pm.
  • For Sep. 21: Read Austin, "Truth" (2) and Kirkham, Chapter 4 (pp. 124-140). Then read Strawson, "Truth" (19) and Kirkham, Chapter 10 (pp. 307-317). Reaction Essays (on Austin or Strawson) are due in my mailbox by 3pm, Monday 9/19.
  • For Sep. 28: Read Kirkham, Chapters 2 (pp. 41-54) and 3 (pp. 73-79) and Alston, "A Realist Conception of Truth" (3). Reaction Essays (on Alston) are due by 4pm, Tuesday 9/27.
  • For Oct. 5: Read Lynch, "Coherence Theories: Introduction" (pp. 99-102), Blanshard, "Coherence as the Nature of Truth" (5), and Kirkham, Chapter 3 (pp. 104-118). Then read Walker, "The Coherence Theory" (6). Reaction Essays (on Blanshard or Walker) are due by 11am, Tuesday 10/4.
  • For Oct. 12: Read Lynch, "Pragmatism and Verificationism: Introduction" (pp. 185-191). Then read Peirce, "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" (8) and James, "Pragmatism's Conception of Truth" (9). Next, read Kirkham, Chapter 3 (pp. 79-104). Reaction Essays (on Peirce or James) are due by 3pm, Monday 10/10.
  • For Oct. 19: Read Putnam, "Two Philosophical Perspectives" (11) and Rorty, "Is Truth a Goal of Inquiry? Donald Davidson versus Crispin Wright" (12). Reaction Essays (on Rorty) are due by 3pm, Monday 10/17.
  • For Oct. 26: Read Lynch, "Tarski's Theory and Its Importance: Introduction" (pp. 323-329) and Tarski, "The Semantic Conception of Truth and the Foundations of Semantics" (15). Then read Kirkham, Chapter 5. Further help in understanding the technical aspects of Tarski's view is available in Alex Miller's "Tarskian Truth-Theories" (on-line: available under 'Resources' on the course's Classes*v2 site). Reaction Essays (on Tarski) are due by 3pm, Monday 10/24.
  • For Nov. 2: Read Field "Tarski's Theory of Truth" (16) and Kirkham, Chapter 6. Reaction Essays (on Field) are due by 3pm, Monday 10/31.
  • For Nov. 9: Read Lynch, "Deflationary Views and Their Critics: Introduction" (pp. 421-431) and Ramsey, "The Nature of Truth" (18). Then read Kirkham, Chapter 10 (pp. 317-329). Reaction Essays (on Ramsey) are due by 3pm, Monday 11/7.
  • For Nov. 16: Read Quine, "Truth" (20) and Horwich, "A Defense of Minimalism" (24). Then read Kirkham, Chapter 10 (pp. 329-350). Reaction Essays (on Horwich) are due by 3pm, Monday 11/14.
  • For Nov. 23: Thanksgiving Break!
  • For Nov. 30: Read Gupta, "A Critique of Deflationism" (23) and Devitt, "The Metaphysics of Truth" (25). Reaction Essays (on Gupta or Devitt) are due by noon, Tuesday 11/29.
Last updated Nov. 10, 2005

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This document was created on August 28, 2005.